Britain’s first cut-price private school will charge parents just £52 a week

Private schools were once thought of as the preserve of the wealthy elites, with some building Olympic size swimming pools and elaborate theaters to justify their astronomical fees.

Now Britain’s first “cut-price private school” is set to open this September will charge parents just £52 a week - but its founder says that parents should not expect any perks.

The Independent Grammar School: Durham will charge parents £2,700-a-year for a “traditional private education without the frills”.

Eton College: the average boarding school charges over £30,000 a year in fees

This is a fifth of the average fees for an independent senior school, according to the Independent Schools Commission’s (ISC) annual survey of its 1,200 members.

Professor James Tooley, a professor of education policy at Newcastle University, said: “This is not necessarily for lower income families, it is for anyone who says private education is far too expensive.

“They often include Olympic size swimming pools, rugby pitches and so on - we are saying that these are not necessary for private education.

“We are saying, let’s get rid of all those and have the basics: high academic standards, strong grounding in mathematics, phonics and languages. It will be no frills and no flash.”

He plans to open the school at a newly refurbished church in the centre of Durham. The school will have Christian ethos, but will not be faith-based.

Prof Tooley, who has spent the last decade setting up chains of low cost private schools in countries such as India, Pakistan and Nigeria, added: "There is always a desire among parents for private education, even those in very poor countries who cannot afford the fees.

“I have given talks at conferences about this, and I am always asked 'could the same thing happen in the UK?' "I have been thinking about it for several years and then finally got together with some colleagues and decided to do it."

Prof Tooley is setting up the school along with a Chris Gray, the former principal of Grindon Hall Christian School in Sunderland, who will be the headmaster.

They are currently in the registration process with the Department for Education, and hopes the school will be open by September.

This is not necessarily for lower income families, it is for anyone who says private education is far too expensiveProfessor James Tooley

If successful, they plan to open a chain across the north of England. The school’s website states any premises will be “simple and unpretentious”, but “clean, hygienic and welcoming”.

The curriculum will be “traditional and knowledge-rich, giving children access to the best of what has been written, spoken and said”.

There will be an inclusive admissions policy, with the school taking children of all backgrounds, with no selection tests.

Professor James Tooley

The average fees for an independent secondary school is £13,566 per year for day pupils, rising to over £30,651 per year for boarding schools.

It costs the tax payer £6,000 per year to educate each pupil at a state school. Julie Robinson, general secretary at the ISC, said that fees of £2,700 per year are the lowest she had ever heard of any school being able to offer.

She said: “It will be incredibly impressive if they can run a school efficiently on that. If it does pull it off it will be quite something, it undercuts the state by half.

"Some schools are very impressive in arts and sports, but some want an academically selective education and no frills schools suit some parents.”